The weekend had finally arrived, and for Kaelen, it meant a temporary departure from the metallic rigor of the academy.
He traveled back to the heart of the Veyron territory, but he wasn't alone this time.
Kaelen had invited his friends to join him at his family home for the weekend, creating a rare bridge between his two worlds.
Mina had initially mentioned that she wanted to visit her own parents first, but she promised she would join them later wherever they decided to go for their outing.
True to her word, she arrived just as the group was preparing for the day's main event.
His father, Arin, and his mother, Lyra, greeted the students with an energy that made the quiet, stoic Kaelen seem even more like a mystery to his peers.
The highlight of the trip was a visit to the central stadium to witness 3D Football—a sport that defied every traditional law of physics.
The stadium was a massive, hollow square, but the playing field was a shimmering, transparent sphere hovering right in the center.
Spectators sat behind reinforced glass windows in the square structure, looking into the void where the field floated like a trapped moon.
Inside that sphere, gravity was a toy; special machines allowed players to run on every inch of the inner surface, even upside down.
If a player jumped too high and passed the exact center of the sphere, they would be yanked by the shifting poles to the opposite side.
Two glowing circular rings sat on diametrically opposite sides of the sphere, serving as the goals for the high-velocity match.
The game was strikingly similar to the football Kaelen remembered from his previous life, but with a lethal, cultivation-based twist.
Players were strictly forbidden from releasing their energy outside their bodies; everything had to be contained within.
They had to weave their internal ribbons, strands, or looms with absolute precision to strengthen their muscles and bones for the hit.
Before kickoff, a ceremonial toss decided the power ceiling for the match—today, the limit was strictly set to the "Strand Level."
If a player surged past that limit or lost control of their internal flow, a red card was issued immediately by the stadium's sensors.
Kaelen stood with his parents, his deep blue eyes mesmerizing as they reflected the neon glow of the hovering pitch.
Beside him, Sora and Mina had traded their academy uniforms for dresses that seemed to change the very atmosphere of the VIP box.
Sora looked incredibly kind and cute in a soft, flowing pastel dress that matched her gentle, scholarly nature.
Mina, however, was ethereal—mesmerizing like a star fallen to earth, her outfit catching the light with every graceful movement.
Leo, true to his restless spirit, had ignored the formal setting entirely and stood there in simple, loose athletic shorts.
As the "Milky Way Galaxy" team executed a breathtaking spiral and slammed the ball through the ring, the stadium erupted in noise.
Leo lost all composure, letting out a roar of triumph as he whipped off his shirt and began rotating it over his head like a propeller.
Arin watched Leo with a glint of genuine admiration, a nostalgic smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watched the boy's energy.
"Now that is the true way to watch a game," Arin remarked with a laugh. "I miss being able to act like that before my position tied my hands."
Kaelen didn't join the chaos; he remained still and composed, a trait he had clearly inherited from his mother's calm, regal demeanor.
But Mina was caught in the flow, her fist high in the air as she shouted for the team, her voice joining the sea of cheering fans.
Lyra watched them all, her eyes softening; though she loved her son, she had always secretly longed for a cheerful, vibrant daughter.
She found herself doting on Sora and Mina, pulled in by their warmth—a fact that Mina noticed with a knowing, graceful smirk.